Good, Bad, and Ugly

[BigBrown]

Good:
You know the players

Bad:
You know the players
Vilardi not being able to rise to the occasion
Poor breakout passes
Goaltending
Coaching
Management, only reason they're not on the ugly list is the return on trades have at least been fair

Ugly:
No obvious culture or identity, at least not a positive one
No emotional engagement
Not standing up for eachother
Lack of preparation
Consistently playing their worst when it mattered the most
MacDermid, good lord...
Wagner, what happened to the guy?

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

Many have said most or all of what I will, but here's mine:

The Good
-Major bounce back year from Doughty
-Kopitar still be Kopitar
-Moore being an incredible find that hopefully isn't a one year wonder
-Byfield looking like he belongs in the NHL
-Young players (Bjornfot, JAD, Anderson, etc) looking like they will stick
-Brown continuing to find a way to score
-PP in the first half of the season
-The Reign coming together after a disastrous start to the season

The Bad
-While he has been much better lately, there was about a 25-30 game stretch where Vilardi was not good at all
-Scoring defense just isn't good enough. Guys need to step up and/or an offensive defenseman needs to be brought in
-Petersen was very hot and cold
-I just don't think Lizotte is good enough. He works hard but he's a tweener who likely won't be in the NHL for too much longer.
-Wagner, see Lizotte
-Breakout passes from the majority of the defense

The Ugly
-MacDermid getting WAY too much ice time
-Maatta being an absolute disaster as Doughty's partner, a spot he was just gifted
-PP in the second half of the season
-Even strength scoring and zone time
-Coaching. Questionable line combinations, dressing 7 defensemen to get MacDermid in the lineup, waiting way too long to pull the goalie, not going with the hot goaltender, JAD not seeing the ice for the first 10 games, Amadio getting too much ice time and time on the PP, etc. I think McLellan has been awful this season
-Clague, not the player, but what they are doing with him. Are they trying to hide him from Seattle? If so I doubt they are successful so the Kings likely lose him AND didn't ice their best lineup.
-The first dozen games of the Reign's season
-The Kings TV broadcast is an absolute embarrassment. It's gotten to the point where I seek out the opposing teams broadcast

The Ugliest
What the hell is the Kings system? Why are we years into the rebuild and two years into McLellan's term as coach and I still have no idea what this team is trying to do one the ice on any given night? What kind of team are we trying to build other than "young guys mixed with holdover top tier vets from the cup teams"? Blake has still yet to put his stamp on this roster

 

[LAKings88]

What is the deal with Frk this year? Seems to have chemistry with most young guys he plays with but didn’t get much of a sniff this year. Dude shoots the puck harder than anyone.

 

[Fishhead]

What is the deal with Frk this year? Seems to have chemistry with most young guys he plays with but didn’t get much of a sniff this year. Dude shoots the puck harder than anyone.

Dunno. 3 point game in ONT today, he's getting near a ppg down there. Not bad as this is coming back from a pretty serious injury.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Frk didn't get much of a sniff because he had a lower-body (groin?) injury practically all year.

Pretty sure he had a spot to lose, but lost the whole year.

 

[Kurrilino]

What the hell is going on with you guys and Villardi????

He shows vision and hockey IQ nobody else on the Kings roster showed for a very long time.
If any, we are missing players who benefit from his play making abilities.
If we would have a winger who would have at least an average NHL shot, Villardi would have 80 points or so.
How often did we watch other teams winger just snipe the puck into the upper corner point blank range without screening.
All of our winger have one thing in common "High and Wide"

 

[fivehole32]

The Good
-Trevor Moore's emergence as a key player
-Milestones and good-to-great years from Kopitar, Doughty, Brown, insulating the youth
-Kempe maturing, showing he will be a good player to have on a competitive team, versatility. Ditto AI, sporting the honor of a letter.
-Anderson, Bjornfot, Clague, JAD, all showing they are NHLers to varying degrees
-Quinton motherf***ing Byfield immediately looking like an impact player
-Kaliyev, Kupari getting ready for that next big step
-Austin "SURPRISE MOTHERf***ERS" Strand!
-AA was a nice surprise

The Bad
-No one being able to grab and hold the 2c spot--Carter flailed, Vilardi couldn't sustain, JAD overmatched, Lizotte miscast
-Petersen's long-term focus--definitely a guy who can play at least half a season at a high level--can he be a real starter?
-No offensive d-men behind Drew
-Lizotte taking a step back offensively was bad for our depth.
-Yeah I get we need a veteran presence but I'd be perfectly happy never seeing Olli Maatta and his alter ego Scott Neidermaatta ever again. The guy is unpredictable for his partners and just a total time bomb at all times.
-RIP to the powerplay that gave us hope for offense for a little while, gone too soon

The Ugly
-Some of this year's injuries, good grief.
-The general malaise, lifelessness is ongoing and inexcusable.
-I'd say the system is ugly but what is it?
-Coaching. Firmly off the TM train unless he has some tricks in his bag.
-MacDermid's sweet ass 32.43% GF%
-Watching Clague score 40 points on Seattle's 2nd pairing and PP in 2021-2022

I think some of the lifelessness and malaise can be attributed to not being able to gel by hanging out and practice together. With next year being on track for a more normal season, I think some of that will be remedied.

 

[LAKings88]

I think some of the lifelessness and malaise can be attributed to not being able to gel by hanging out and practice together. With next year being on track for a more normal season, I think some of that will be remedied.

I know Fox talked about how hard it has been this season without a proper practice routine.